Jazz Articles about Charlie Parker

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Charlie Parker: At Jirayr Zorthian's Ranch, July 14, 1952

by David Rickert
September 16, 2006

Jirayr Zorthian was a painter and sculptor whose large ranch was known for wild parties attended by hordes of intellectuals, artists and naked women frolicking about. Thus it's easy to see why Charlie Parker wound up there in 1952. This concert captures a moment that is mentioned in every serious Parker discography, but is only available now for the first time.

This session was not a formal concert performance, but rather an informal musical party, and thus featured ...

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Charlie Parker with Lennie Tristano: Charlie Parker with Lennie Tristano: Complete Recordings

by Greg Thomas
August 18, 2006

This recording, a fine addition to Charlie Parker's oeuvre, documents Lennie Tristano's extensions of the bebop idiom. Considered by some to be more of a cult figure with a small school of followers than a recognized major innovator of jazz, Tristano's contributions may now be viewed at in a better light. Parker's seminal place in the pantheon of jazz gods has long been established and rightfully so. Tristano himself once said, “If Charlie Parker wanted to invoke plagiarism laws, he ...

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Charlie Parker: The Genius of & Blue Bird

by AAJ Staff
October 2, 2005

By P. Christopher Dowd

To approach the aesthetic history of jazz would unequivocally lead to Charlie “Bird Parker. With the majority of musicians, we speak of their contributions to the musical lexicon in terms of what they added to the foundation. In the case of Charlie Parker, he didn't just contribute, he pulverized all that preceded him with his blinding-speed rhythm, phrasing and soloing. Parker, along with fellow luminaries Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell ushered in ...

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Charlie Parker: Liveology

by AAJ Staff
April 27, 2005

Back in the days of vinyl, I remember Everest as a reissue label that issued live Charlie Parker material in haphazard fashion, with little or no discographical information and muddy sound. Boris Rose airchecks were thrown in with tracks from Bird's 1950 Birdland session with Fats Navarro and Bud Powell, and it was often left to the listener to sort things out. But now, Empire Musicwerks has acquired the Everest catalogue, and with this notable compilation, the label has begun ...

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Why Bird Still Lives

by AAJ Staff
December 17, 2003

Charlie Parker. Charlie Parker has been discussed over and over, at least until recently. The Wynton-Crouch Clique has successfully, and I think, usefully, revived discussion and analysis of pre-bop geniuses Armstrong and Ellington. And on the post- bop side, you find lively exchanges regarding Miles and Coltrane. I don't think we should wait until Bird's centennial in 2020 to take a fresh look at his music. My contention is that the jazz world has yet to fully come to grips ...

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Charlie Parker: Jam Sessions

by John Ballon
October 29, 2003

Charlie “Bird" Parker was a peerless musician who needs no further introduction. Despite his vast discography, there are few good-sounding recordings where the majority of the tunes run any more than 5 minutes in length. Jam Sessions is one of the notable exceptions. Backed by an all-star band (including such giants as Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Benny Carter, and Oscar Peterson), Parker stretches with leisurely exuberance across lengthy jams (every track is over 13 minutes). The assembled talent really come ...

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Charlie Parker: Best of The Complete Live Performances on Savoy

by Charlie B. Dahan
July 16, 2002

Another exciting reissue from the 60th birthday celebration of Savoy Records is a Charlie Parker live concert recording. The album culminates three separate performances broadcast over radio from the aptly named Royal Roost Club (a/k/a The Metropolitan Bopera) in New York City. The recording displays Parker at his most vital and without a doubt at his finest. Surrounded by a stellar group at each appearance, Parker navigates his group through such standards as “Scrapple from the Apple,” ...